Macklemore saw so much success in his career and dropped numerous songs that created much mainstream success alongside producer Ryan Lewis.

Despite his push to advocate for the rights of gay and Black people, many called the rapper out and said his advocacy wasnā€™t real. Along with that, his message to Kendrick Lamar following winning a Grammy for Best Rap Album over K. Dot became a point of contention for fans and supporters.Ā Since then, the rapperā€™s name has been tied to being a ā€œculture vultureā€ along with cultural appropriation accusations. The rapper recently spoke to HipHopDX for his latest album ā€˜BEN,ā€™ and talked about the backlash and the ā€œculture vultureā€ title, reflecting on how it made him feel.Ā 

Macklemore talked about the switch that happened for him after hearing the criticism, saying, ā€œOne thing that the criticism did, [it made me] dig deep into myself, and [I had] the realization that I donā€™t control who resonates with my art.ā€

The rapper then candidly talked about feeling powerless about who receives his art. ā€œOnce I started to really work on that and do a deep dive ā€” because I had no other choice, right? I was getting scrutinized by the world. I won the Grammys, I apologized to Kendrick, and everyoneā€™s like, ā€˜You suck. Youā€™re not Hip Hop.ā€™ And Iā€™m like, ā€˜Oh my God.ā€™ Thereā€™s only two ways out of this: stopping or accepting it.ā€ said the rapper.